The present invention relates to machine tool controls and particularly to a control circuit for permitting duplication of identical parts.
In the machining industry, it is frequently desirable to reproduce an existing part even though the part itself may be out of tolerance from the prescribed engineering drawings. Thus, for example, in the bearing art where the bore of a bearing is, for example, two inches in diameter but the part itself which is used in a system has a tolerance of, for example, ten thousandths of an inch and may, in fact, be out of tolerance or vary within the tolerance, it is frequently desired in order to replace the bearing or to provide a bearing with equal performance standards, to substantially identically manufacture additional bearings from the master part. In the past, this had to be done manually by gauging the bearing bore, recording such information manually, and manually adjusting the machine tool as a new bearing is manufactured to reproduce the original part. Such a process is difficult, time consuming, costly, and prone to machining errors.
The present invention provides an automatic control system for reproduction of master parts without requiring continuous monitoring by an operator and assures that the replacement part (i.e., the workpiece) is substantially identical to the master part.